Editorial: Flag football

Posted: Friday, January 26, 2001

WEDNESDAY WAS literally a banner day for the Georgia House of Representatives. In a surprise move, a majority of the House took a bold, brave step to end the controversy over the state flag by approving the design of a totally new one.

The 94-82 decision by the House was as welcome as it was unexpected. By voting to adopt a compromise version of the flag, House lawmakers showed a rare combination of statesmanship, courage, vision and common sense. So, too, did Gov. Roy Barnes. He spoke powerfully and personally on a subject that has divided too many Georgians in recent years.

And that, perhaps, is the strongest argument to change the current flag: unity. We must focus on the many things that unite us as Georgians. Too much is at stake to focus on the few things that pull us apart.

That's exactly what 94 members of the House did Wednesday, including these members of Chatham County's delegation: State Reps. Tom Bordeaux, Lester Jackson, Dorothy Pelote and Burke Day. They voted for a redesigned state flag that prominently displays the yellow Georgia seal on a blue field. The current state flag, which includes the Confederate battle flag, is reduced to one of five smaller symbols displayed underneath the seal, just below the words "Georgia's History."

Candidly, this proposed banner is a mish-mash and not particularly striking. From a distance - which, after all, is how most flags that fly from flagpoles are viewed - it will be difficult to make out the words and the smaller symbols.

It's said that a camel is a horse designed by committee. The proposed new flag, publicly displayed for the first time Wednesday, apparently was a product of the same process.

Still, what this flag lacks visually is more than made up by what it says about Georgians. We're not going to forget our past. At the same time, our eyes are focused on the future.

The journey ahead is a long one. Georgia has public schools that must improve, quality jobs to attract, natural resources to manage, highways to build and essential public services to provide. It has been painfully obvious since this year's legislative session began that lawmakers were consumed by the "flag issue," as it has come to be known. For everyone's sake, it must be settled. There's too much important work to do.

Many Georgians embrace the current flag and strongly object to change. Where others might see hate, they see heritage. It's probably impossible to settle this emotional argument. But as Mr. Barnes correctly said Wednesday, it is time to end it.

"End it before it divides us into warring camps, before it reverses four decades of economic growth and progress, before it deprives Georgia of its place of leadership - in other words, before it does irreparable harm to the future we want to leave for our children," he said.

Some House lawmakers who voted against the proposed flag - a group that included State Reps. Anne Mueller, R-Savannah, and Ron Stephens, R-Garden City - squawked about being steamrolled. They've got a point. Mr. Barnes and the Democratic leadership obviously kept this measure under wraps before springing it on lawmakers.

But legislators can't argue with straight faces that they haven't had time to think about the flag or form opinions. Surprise vote or not, to suggest that somehow Georgia was ill-served by the process is a bogus complaint.

Now the focus shifts to the Senate. Next Monday, state senators are expected to consider a similar bill to change the flag. We encourage Chatham County's two senators, Eric Johnson and Regina Thomas, to vote for the compromise version.

Senators who may be squeamish should be inspired by the words of Denmark Groover, a former legislator from Macon who sponsored the bill that created the current flag in 1956. He spoke to the House Rules Committee on Wednesday.

Mr. Groover, a self-confessed segregationist, said it is time to "end this cauldron of discord that adversely affects our lives and the future of our children and grandchildren." That's something all senators - and good-hearted Georgians - can salute.